Top-shelf recruit Cliff Alexander picks KU

Cliff Alexander, one of the nation's top recruits, announced Friday in a broadcast on ESPNU that he will play for Kansas.

Cliff Alexander, one of the nation's top recuirts, announced Friday he will play for Kansas.

Nick Irvin just laughs when opponents are first able to meet Cliff Alexander, his pupil, off the court.

After playing against the bruising 6-foot-8 forward, most who haven’t met Alexander assume he’s a mean dude.

“He just always smiles,” said Irvin, coach of the Mac Irvin Fire AAU team. “But on the court, he’s an animal.”

That tenacity will be making its way to Lawrence next season, as Alexander — Rivals.com’s No. 4-ranked player in the class of 2014 — orally committed to Kansas during a Friday afternoon ceremony that was aired live on ESPNU.

Alexander, from Curie High School in Chicago, picked KU over Illinois, DePaul and Memphis.

“I feel they're going to develop me, get me where I want to be and expand my game to the next level,” Alexander said during his ESPNU interview.

Of KU coach Bill Self, Alexander said: “He's going to coach me and get me where I want to be.”

Alexander attended Sunday’s KU women’s basketball game on an unofficial visit, as he was there to cheer on his girlfriend, Caelynn Manning-Allen, who is a freshman forward for the Jayhawks.

“Especially for Kansas fans, the easy comparison to make is a young Thomas Robinson,” Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Eric Bossi said of Alexander. “He's a burly, explosive athlete who tries to tear the rim down every chance he gets. He plays with a physical edge to him, runs the floor really hard from rim to rim and is in a place where he’s trying to extend his game a little bit from a guy who’s being thought of as strictly a power player around the rim to someone who’s got a little bit of skill and can face up to the hoop a little bit.”

Irvin has seen plenty of Alexander over the last two years while serving as his AAU coach.

“He rebounds the ball well. He blocks shots. He dunks on you,” Irvin said. “He’s just a tough, mean kid on the court. He reminds me of (New York Knicks forward) Amar'e Stoudemire.”

Irvin also has seen Alexander improve his shooting. Though it hasn’t always been a strength for the forward, Irvin says Alexander's range now extends to the 3-point line.

“He’s definitely a one-and-done player. He won’t be in college but one year,” Irvin said. “That’s the player I envision he’ll be is going to one year of college and out. He’s an impact player.”

Alexander angered some fans — especially in Illinois — with the way he announced his decision, as he picked up an Illinois hat and dropped it before placing a KU hat on his head.

KU traditionally has had bad luck with recruit ceremonies that have involved hats, missing out on players in the past like UCLA’s Baron Davis and Kentucky's Terrence Jones.

The commitment gives Self two top-15 commits in the class of 2014, as Rivals.com’s 12th-ranked player, 6-7 shooting guard Kelly Oubre, picked the Jayhawks last month.

Irvin, who knows Alexander as a fun-loving kid who likes both video games and cartoons, says KU is getting a player who will be committed to his teammates.

“He’s a great kid that wants to win. He’ll want to win a national championship," Irvin said. “The thing (fans) are going to love about him is his smile, the way he smiles, how humble he is. He’s a lovable person.”

Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones, the Nos. 1 and 5 players in the Rivals.com class of 2014, announced their decision to attend Duke live on ESPNU.

Okafor, a 6-10 center from Chicago, and Jones, a 6-1 guard from Apple Valley, Minn., had said throughout the recruiting process that they’d like to play for the same school. They picked Duke over KU and Baylor.